Prominent literary theorist and New York Times columnist Stanley Fish to lecture at UAH

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (March 17, 2014) — American literary theorist, legal scholar, author, and distinguished professor, Stanley E. Fish will give two public talks at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) next month.

Fish's visit to campus on Friday, April 11, is sponsored by the UAH Humanities Center, and co-sponsored by the UAH Department of Communication Arts. The talks are free and open to the public.

"Dr. Fish is the most important scholar in the humanities we’ve ever hosted at UAH. His work on literary interpretation and legal rhetoric is legendary. His take on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the Second Amendment in 2008 should be quite enlightening," said Dr. Clarke Rountree, chair and professor of Communication Arts.

At 1 p.m., Fish will lecture to UAH students and interested faculty and staff in Morton Hall (room 200). His talk is entitled, "Can Holocaust Denial Be Stopped." Later in the evening at 7:30 p.m., in the Shelby Center for Science and Technology (room 107), Fish will lecture and lead a discussion on "Rhetoric, Grammar, and Intention in the District of Columbia. vs. Heller."

The principal party in the landmark Second Amendment case of 2008, was Dick Heller, a police officer who lived in the District of Columbia (D.C.). The law prohibited homeowners the right to register and own firearms in D.C. Heller filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court on Second Amendment grounds. He sought an injunction against the law banning hand gun registration in D. C.

The District Court dismissed Heller's complaint, but The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, reversed the decision. The Court of Appeals viewed Heller's complaint as seeking the right to operate and carry a firearm in his home when necessary for self defense, and held that the total ban on handguns violated the individual right to possess firearms under the Second Amendment. And, on June 26, 2008, The Supreme Court upheld the decision 5 to 4. Essentially, The Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 as unconstitutional. Prior to this ruling the Firearms Control Regulations Act, also restricted residents from owning guns except under certain conditions.

Stanley E. Fish is the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor and a professor of law at Florida International University, in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke University, in Durham, N.C. During his tenure at UIC he recruited well-respected professors in the academic community and earned the university a lot of recognition. Fish resigned as dean from UIC in a public dispute with the State of Illinois over university funding. In 2010, he joined the Board of Visitors of Ralston College, a start-up institution in Savannah, Georgia.

Fish is the author of numerous books, including "How Milton Works," 'The Trouble With Principle," "Professional Correctness: Literary Studies and Political Change," and 'There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, and It's a Good Thing, Too." His essays and articles have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Harper's Magazine, Esquire, The Atlantic and The New York TImes.

Additional sponsors for Fish's visit to the UAH campus include The Stetson University College of Law, the UAH Office of the Provost, and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.